Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Decently written on the sentence level, but lacking overall purpose and insight. I struggled to separate finding the author intentionally delusional from my thoughts on the book itself.

I love a memoir and I really enjoy ones that are about the business world. But I just couldn’t get myself to care for the author. She has really crappy things happen to her and I was sympathetic to that but she came off as whiny instead of trying to get herself out of the bad situations.

A fascinating memoir and a story worth sharing, but the writing left me completely emotionally disconnected from the character and her story. Usually after completing a memoir I feel as if I know a whole new person. I definitely cannot say that about this book. I wish the emotion and personal touch matched the importance of the story!
2.5 stars

Wow, this was a compelling read. As much as I went in thinking I knew how the story would play out, I got much more than expected from this book. The author captures intimate interior moments with unexpected detail as she draws us into this world of private jets and limitless spending… that one pays for with 100% of their time and 99% of their attention. At multiple points in the book I stopped to think about what I might do in similar circumstances, which is one of my favorite things about reading. This one is worth your attention if you’ve ever wondered about the role wealth and power play in your mind, heart, and imagination.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for me to review.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Carrie Sun's memoir "Private Equity" delves into the captivating yet perilous realm of high finance.

"No one…Yes, that’s right, no one has ever voluntarily left Carbon." So says the pseudonymous billionaire who orchestrates a Manhattan hedge fund poised to catapult him into the realm of trillionaires. Author Carrie Sun recounts her tenure as a personal assistant to the enigmatic billionaire whose insatiable need for control dictates her every move. As she navigates the relentless demands of the corporate fantasy world, Sun grapples with her own complicity in sacrificing her dreams for financial gain.

With candid introspection, Sun exposes the soul-devouring nature of the corporate landscape, where success often comes at the expense of personal fulfillment. Drawing parallels to the iconic "Devil Wears Prada," the narrative reveals the insidious grip of modern capitalism and greed. It's truly confounding to comprehend how this exceptionally talented woman transitioned from her role as a "quant" at Fidelity Investments to become the chief of staff at a top-tier investment firm, all while holding onto the belief that she would encounter something beyond the relentless pursuit of profit.

Despite its potential, the narrative fails to redeem itself through the meticulous details shared throughout the book, offering little in the way of genuine insights or dramatic revelations. Instead, it merely presents the mundane reality of working for a demanding boss in a high-pressure industry, devoid of any surprises or enlightening moments. Despite the promises made by the cover copy of a scathing critique of wealth accumulation, the book ultimately delivers what one would anticipate, with clumsy attempts at cultural and socioeconomic commentary that lack depth and resonance within Sun's privileged context, highlighting her reluctance to confront her own circumstances.

Regardless of its flaws, "Private Equity" offers valuable insights into the corrosive effects of capitalism and the collective complicity that perpetuates its power. While occasionally veering into self-indulgence, Sun's story serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the pitfalls of unchecked ambition and the price of compromising one's integrity for monetary gain. As Sun aptly observes, the convergence of trauma and capitalism underscores the urgent need for introspection and resistance in a world where success often comes at a staggering cost.

If you were 29 years old and had the opportunity to work for a billionaire would you do it? Let’s not kid ourselves. We’d be there in the blink of an eye. Private jets to private islands. Access to anything money can buy. What does it take to keep such a job? And what did it take to get out of it? This is Carrie Sun’s story.

Carrie has such an interesting story! The way this book was written was so engaging and really hooked me. Some of the "morals of the story" felt a bit didactic near the end, but overall, I enjoyed the book as a look into the world of a high-powered, overachiever working in Finance.

This story reads like a fiction novel, but it's labeled as a memoir. I did enjoy Carrie's intelligence, and how she made a way for herself. There were some jumps in time and some things in her personal life that I would loved to have seen be more fleshed out. There was finance info overload that could've been scaled back to a minimum. The tone of the writing suggests that the author still has emotional wounds from her experiences that need to be healed.

This story reads like a fiction novel, but it's labeled as a memoir. I did enjoy Carrie's intelligence, and how she made a way for herself. There were some jumps in time and some things in her personal life that I would loved to have seen be more fleshed out. There was finance info overload that could've been scaled back to a minimum. The tone of the writing suggests that the author still has emotional wounds from her experiences that need to be healed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Carrie's book has a literary quality that elevates it above a simple memoir. While the glitter of unimaginable wealth is part of the charm, what drives the book is her careful attention to detail. The book asks serious questions about wealth, privilege, information, and the relentless nature of work in today's environment.

This memoir was a bit hard for me to get into. Sun's writing style seemed disjointed, at times overly specific and at other times lacking detail. I had hoped there would be more insights into the world of hedge funds. Often memoirs like this one would be a balance of information and memories. This book is more of a commentary on her own character and personal experiences in childhood and at MIT. It seems this book is one person's experience in the finance field rather than about the field in general. A decent memoir, it just was not what I expected.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

💶Private Equity by Carrie Sun. She has an Ivy League pedigree, but after ending a long term relationship with her controlling ex, Carrie Sun takes a job as an assistant to the head of a major hedge fund. Think private jets, huge deals, billionaires and all that go with it. Carrie’s job became her life and it took time for her to realize that her “all in” approach that was a demand of the job is just not sustainable. This is so well written and interesting because who gets to see inside a hedge fund like an assistant! I was shocked that there was no NDA preventing her from writing this book. Highly recommended!

This was an interesting read on life as a woman inside the finance sector. I felt it was illuminating as to the life of those in high power situations, and the mountains that their assistants are expected to move (when money is no object). I found myself rooting for her at every turn, and wishing for the day she would escape. Her memoir is well written and I look forward to seeing more from her as she pursues her long held dream as a writer.

Before reading Carrie Sun’s insightful memoir, I knew nothing much about Private Equity other than that it made some people very wealthy. The world of this book is not my world but I felt its intensity almost painfully as I turned the pages.

This is a book about privilege (the ability to make a very good living, to work with smart people, etc.) but also about the toll that working in an environment that may not be a good fit ultimately takes on a person. The question then is whether someone can walk away from the benefits for the sake of another (perhaps even better) existence.

Carrie Sun is the child of immigrants. She was raised to work hard, very hard indeed and to be successful. As her memoir opens, she is in a relationship with a man named Josh who is, himself, very successful. However, just as can happen in work, some things that Josh wants from Carrie may take her too far away from her values.

Carrie decides to apply for a job with a billionaire after a position is floated by a headhunter. She undergoes, for this one job, more interviews than I have had in my whole career. Carrie gets the position and readers follow along to share her experiences and decisions.

This book, at times, read like a novel though there were also some technical aspects to it, as when Sun describes what PE is. In some ways it is a cautionary tale. It is also, importantly, a story of discovering one’s self. I recommend that it be read by a wide readership including those who are considering, or feel stuck, in their career choices.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Though the hook is the behind-the-scenes look at the lives of billionaires and hedge funders, this is actually a revealing memoir of a women trying to be happy. I love how she wants more than just a high salary and perks, but to feel fulfilled. The story of her parents and childhood is especially moving. Highly recommend!

I’m not typically a fan of workplace reads, whether biographical or otherwise, but there is something endearing about Private Equity and the way that Carrie Sun tells about her climb up the corporate ladder, focusing primarily on her time at Carbon working as an executive administrative assistant to the founder of the company, Boone Prescott.

From the beginning, it was like listening to a friend tell me a story. It is very engaging and surprisingly thought-provoking, especially for someone who is the furthest from being financial or corporate-minded herself. I got heavy The Devil Wears Prada vibes as far as the assistant job that is like a succubus to your existence, completely taking over Carrie’s life before she even realizes it’s happening. She was living to work not working to live, and it always breaks my heart to see people give up so much for a job. I know it had to be hard for her too because I could see how this would be a dream job to some, but at what cost?

My heart hurt for Carrie and what she endured yet I also feel inspired by reading her story. I am currently at a personal crossroads myself and seeing how she jumped and took a leap of faith, plus where she eventually landed, gives me confidence and courage to do the same. This is a story not only comes from experiences but also has personal reflections as it’s clear that Carrie was trying to process her life during that time through writing and self-reflection.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to like this novel as much as I did but I was pleasantly surprised and read it relatively quick. I really enjoyed the overall cadence of this novel, with the authors expert weaving of past and present personal experiences with information and education about varying subjects in the financial sector, so there is truly something for everyone. Highly recommend!

This was an excellent read. There was something about Carrie Sun's writing that connected me to her experiences and thoughts, likely because I've had many of the same thoughts while working for much less than $400,000 a year. I wasn't sure I'd connect to her experiences as someone so consumed by wealth, yet I did. I couldn't imagine listening to someone complain about work when they had so much, but she really did deserve so much more by the corporate world who just used and abused her, squeezing out as much as they could for as long as they could get away with it. Her story is an important one--even when we think the grass must be greener working for such an innovative company, somewhere, we know that's too good to be true.

I received this is an digital ARC from NetGalley.

Having worked at a finance company it was affirming (?) to see all the off-feelings I had about the company and the industry as a whole were....true.